The Constitutional Right to Hunt: Orion Sporting Group Sets Trail Date

A press release I received recently indicated that the Orion Sporting Group is going to trial on April 20, 2005, for a lawsuit to protect the constitutional right to hunt and shoot in the state of Virginia. "Virginia and other progressive states have protected and encouraged hunting rights," said Stephen Halbrook, Orion co-lead counsel and constitutional law specialist. "Orion’s case is one of the first in U.

S. history to fight a local government’s infringement on state constitutional hunting rights." Orion sought to continue the operation of its preexisting shotgun-sports business on anew 450-acre rural tract of land in Nelson County, Virginia, which also includes Orion’s licensed hunting preserve.

Litigation began more than a year ago when Orion was denied a conditional-use permit by Nelson County, despite complying with the noise ordinance and working with the Board of Supervisors to keep Orion’s business within the county. "Orion offers shotgun sports such as clay pigeons and helice as part of our overall mission to provide firearms-safety training and shooting education to hunters," said James Slaughter, Orion’s general manager. "The Nelson County Board of Supervisors clearly has taken an anti-hunting and anti-gun position, not only with its denial of Orion’s sporting business, but with the new county zoning initiative that intends to regulate hunt clubs in the county.

Regrettably, they have already shut down and then placed arbitrary restrictions at the shooting range of one well-established Nelson County hunt club, and I think there are many more to come." Orion is an international sporting estate offering a diverse landscape containing open fields, rolling wooded terrain, deep forest, creeks, a scenic lake, and over one-half mile of picturesque James River frontage.

Orion plans to use this rural property to allow sportsmen and women and outdoor enthusiasts to experience the splendor of the Virginia countryside and traditional sporting lifestyles. The Orion Estate is composed of a licensed hunting preserve, shooting grounds including a multi-disciplined shotgun-sports center, event grounds, and corporate training facility on the banks of the historic James River in the piedmont of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For more information about the lawsuit visit or for more info about the Orion Estate see their website at After seeing the way the courts have been used in recent years in a misguided attempt to bankrupt the firearm industry, it’s refreshing to see the courts used to protect the rights of citizens and a legitimate sporting business. Orion is to be commended for their stance on an issue of importance to all of us. Editor Keith Lawrence Technical